Business Watch: All drill, no frack for U.S. shale producers

An oil well pump jack is seen at an oil field supply yard near Denver, Colorado, U.S., February 2, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

U.S. shale producers are drilling at the highest rate in 18 months but have left a record number of wells unfinished in the largest oilfield in the country.

Russia has the EU in a bind

The bloc is divided between eastern European and Baltic Sea countries that see a new pipeline carrying Russian gas across the Baltic as making the EU a hostage to Moscow – as well as those in northern Europe, for whom the economic benefits take priority.